Viva la Gloria
by fleurily
Summary: A dark AU, in which the Order has learned to neutralize the abilities of the Noah- and manages to capture one to implement their experiments.


Half of her skull was lying on the table, inches away from her face.

They had their hands in her brain, their metal tools. She could feel everything - _Nothing for pain, just make sure it can't move_ - they jabbed something behind her eyes, something sharp and twisting, and she could hear every wet noise inside of her head.

_What are you doing? I didn't authorize-_

The tall man, black hair; she could hear his name in his thoughts, see those flashes of what he loved. Lenalee's brother? Pretty Lenalee, with her hair in bows and her nervous system blown to bits.

_We need more seals, it's trying to overpower- _

_Severing the nerves, Inspector_.

It was an explosion of light, and pain, and then everything was numb, numb and dark again.

+

Komui kept his face neutral as he left the procedure room, strides purposeful and even as he tore the surgical mask and gloves off. The blood had sprayed onto the front of his jacket as they hacked into the brain cavity, butchering the tiny head on the table with surgical precision.

Neutralize. Those were the orders he had given. The Inspector, however, had arrived with far different ideas.

Nobody had anticipated such a capture, even with the Crows at hand in the heat of a battle. The Noah had been overconfident, they reported; upon seeing one of her companions fall, she had rushed to his aid, and they had taken the opportunity to ambush her. They had dragged her into the Order through their Ark passage, chained and covered in their seals. Dangerous, murderous, waiting for any opportunity to make her escape and call upon her demons, they warned.

Komui knew they were holding a monster. He had seen the results of this particular Noah's violence several times, and it was certainly something to fear- But watching violent handling on a monster in the form of a child, so fragile, was distinctly unsettling.

Kill it. Quickly, mercifully, effectively. He didn't want to have that creature drawing akuma and other Noah to their location. Someone had reported the capture to the Vatican already, though, and before they could dispatch the order of execution, Rouvelier was storming through his office door. He was taking over this project.

Komui stood by and watched as they opened the Noah's head, and cut out the pieces of her brain that would allow her to control her abilities.

She had opened her eyes toward the end of the operation, and looked at him. The Noah had bright blue eyes, and despite the haze of pain in them, Komui could see another emotion that was nothing short of startling.

It was... _scared_.

He was distracted by that gaze, if only for a moment. When he had looked back to the surgeons-

Komui threw the gloves and mask into a wastebin, pushing the door open and walking into the clean air of the ground level of Headquarters. It was business as usual, up here; Kanda was walking past, tying his hair back as he went. Allen was fresh from a mission, adjusting a few fresh bandages and listening to a Finder talk with a polite smile.

This was what he was protecting. No matter how defenseless or innocent she looked, the Noah was one of the monsters seeking to destroy everything here.

When they were finished studying her, they would kill her. One less Noah, and more information for them to use in the battle to defeat the Earl.

+

Blind.

Rhode could feel the metal slab beneath her. She could feel the heat of some kind of light, illuminating her bare skin. She could hear _breathing_, slow and anticipatory, all around her. But when she opened her eyes...

She tried to move, only to find her wrists restrained by heavy, rough, metal chains. Something was strange, though. When she tried to jerk her arm back, only her fingers moved- No, that had to be wrong.

"We have movement in the limbs," a voice said, far too loudly. Could she move her feet? What had they done to her? _Why couldn't she use her powers_?

Something jabbed into her arm, and she gasped- A soft, harsh noise, with just enough of her voice behind it to make it a painful sound.

"Speak." A new voice, even louder. Her head was roaring, it felt like the back of her eyes were on fire with each word. When he started shouting- "Say something, Noah!"

"_Stop_," she almost groaned through clenched teeth, waiting for the pressure in her skull to somehow lighten before her head simply exploded.

They all started talking, then. "Managed to maintain speech center-" "The implant?" "-until later, after it regains motor function."

It felt like she was suffocating beneath all of the noise, pressing down on her head and her chest, until finally she couldn't _take_ anymore, and she screamed with all of the air in her body, until she could taste blood in her throat and her entire being ached with the effort.

She couldn't stop, even after they fell silent around her. Everything hurt, she was trapped, she couldn't feel her powers, she couldn't move, she couldn't _see_.

Someone backhanded her hard enough to loosen several teeth.

"When we have the information we need, you can take out the voicebox, too."

They'd called him _Inspector_, she remembered- that voice. She hated his voice, and she hated him.

"Put it in holding until it comes to its senses."

Then they were moving her, walking, cold air biting at her bare skin and the chains they dragged her along by.

Air? Fresh air- No, just a cold wind. They were opening a door, and the stale smell of wet years came out. They threw her down, attached the chains to the wall, and closed the door as she stumbled and fell to her knees.

Her body wouldn't move as she told it to. She couldn't even push herself up off the damp floor.

Rhode pulled her knees to her chest, holding her head in her arms as the horror and pain washed over her senses once more.

+

"How do you expect this kitchen to feed every person in this building while making _deliveries_, Inspector? " Jerry snapped into the phone, shaking a frying pan with his free hand. "Someone can come upstairs and get a meal if they want it badly enough."

Allen was leaning over the counter, waiting for his food while listening to the one-sided conversation with mild interest. The dining hall was still relatively empty, but Finders and staff were slowly filtering in for their midday meal. It was going to be ridiculously busy in a matter of minutes, and Jerry would need all the help he could get.

"Fine, I'll send one of the hands down. But don't start complaining when there's a backup on getting lunch out today-" He tossed the phone back in the general direction of the counter, grabbing a spatula and stirring the food rapidly.

Allen leaned forward, putting a hand under the grille that separated the serving line from the kitchen as if trying to catch Jerry's attention. "I'd be willing to take a tray down to the labs for you, if you can't spare anyone."

"Oh, Allen!" Jerry returned the boy's charming smile, hands still shifting between his tasks. "Would you be so kind? One of my boys is already sick, and it would be a _disaster_ if I lost anyone else for even a minute!"

"It won't be much trouble at all. Just tell me where I need to go." The Exorcist waited patiently for Jerry to put a bowl of soup and some water onto a tray, taking it as the cook passed it across the counter.

"Down to the labs, six doors down, and then a left turn. It'll be the door at the end of the hallway. If you get lost, just ask one of the guards."

"Guards?" Jerry was already moving back to the far end of the kitchen, however, and didn't hear Allen's question. The boy hummed thoughtfully, picking up a spoon and napkin before heading for the laboratory levels.

The cook's directions had been clear enough, and Allen had little trouble finding his destination. The seals on the door and the Crows standing on either side of the doorway were distinctively out of place, however, and the Exorcist found that he was almost nervous to find out what was inside. Even so, he held the tray of food steady as the guards opened the door for him, and walked in without hesitation.

It was pitch black inside, with the exception of a low-burning candle in one corner. It took Allen's eyes several minutes to adjust to the darkness, and even then he didn't immediately see anyone. It was a small room, and cold, and there was nothing but chains on the wall and- Oh, _God_, a body on the floor.

He almost dropped the tray when what he thought was a corpse moved. It looked like it had been in one spot for a while; a tray from the day before was still sitting a few inches away from her, untouched, and the chains had formed rust marks on the stone floor where they lay. He could see the ribs through the skin, all of their bones, because they weren't even clothed- This was dangerously thin, and they hadn't even tried to fix it?

Allen lowered himself to his knees, slowly, setting the tray to one side before pushing the old tray aside. If the Crows were outside, this was someone dangerous, but he couldn't leave them to starve.

"Hello," he spoke softly, easing his hands beneath their head and turning the thin form carefully onto its back. A girl- A little girl, face and body bruised and emaciated. Who would give such an obviously brutal beating to a child? "Are you alright?"

Not a child, Allen realized, as she opened her eyes. A Noah. He fell silent, waiting for her to say something, frozen in place. Her eyes were infected, her face was swollen, lip split and dried blood beneath her nose.

"Tyki?" She breathed the name, tone eerily innocent. Allen carefully removed one glove, laying a hand over her brow and grimacing at the heat of her fever. "They took my eyes. Father won't be happy."

He deliberately unbuttoned his waistcoat, removing his shirt and and wrapping it around her naked form with care. Even some small level of decency like _clothing_ couldn't be afforded.

She needed food- No, he needed to break the fever-

He was so angry he couldn't speak, for a long stretch of minutes.

"I'll be back," Allen told her, slowly rising to his feet. "I'm going to get someone to help you."

The sound of her rattling cough as he walked out sent a chill of rage down his spine.


End file.
